Leigh’s cheeks were tanned a deep brown above his black beard. There was a serious expression in his vivid blue eyes as he looked at Dave.
‘Do you enjoy it?’
‘Mostly. There are parts that aren’t any fun. There’s always someone complaining about a road that needs grading, or someone’s barking dog.’ He shrugged. ‘But that’s all part of it. The fun stuff is when you make changes for the benefit of everyone within the council boundaries.’
To Dave, this sounded like a practised line. ‘How do you fit it in with your farming? That must be tough. I imagine there are times when you’re needed in both places at once.’
‘Well, I’m lucky enough to be able to employ a few blokes. If I’m not around, they cover for me. Eddie was one of them.’ Leigh looked down at his desk and cleared his throat.
Dave watched as he got a grip on himself and started to tap his pen on a blank pad before giving Dave a stare. ‘So how can I help? What do we need to go over?’
‘What I’d really like to do is get you and Geoff back out to where it happened. Talk through the night and exactly what occurred. You can explain to me and I can see it.’
‘Sure. Anything you need.’
‘I’ve spoken with Geoff and he’s agreed to this as well.’
‘Right, well, let’s get it over with. I don’t want it hanging over my head.’ He stood up and Dave instantly got the impression that he was used to getting his own way.
‘Are you able to get away right now?’
‘’Course I can. Practically everyone’s got my mobile number; they normally ring that anyway.’ His tone was scornful and Dave wondered if it was anxiety making him edgy. It was so difficult to go back and face something as traumatic as this.
‘Well, we can’t go straightaway,’ Dave said, making sure he was in charge of the situation. He was confident that given half the chance Leigh would take control. ‘I’ve organised to pick Geoff up at two o’clock this afternoon, so I’ll be back here at one forty-five.’
After a short silence, which Dave interpreted as one of annoyance, Leigh agreed.
Chapter 16
A low, buzzing sound made Fiona scan the horizon, trying to identify the noise. It sounded like a fly on steroids. What was Dave doing up there at the accident site? Some type of scanning or measuring or something up there on the side of the hill? What type of investigation made that noise?
She shuddered, not wanting to think about the possibilities, but her eyes had a mind of their own. She kept looking in the direction of the hill.
Maybe it was the tractor. She wanted to believe it was. Shifting her focus, she tried to see where Damien might be.
But still, she knew deep down it wasn’t a tractor noise.
What the hell was it?
A flash in the sky made her turn. She squinted at it, the glare from the sun making it hard to focus.
There, right on the boundary fence, a … thing! Hovering in the air. What the hell was it? It was so small she could only see the sun reflecting off it.
Going over to her ute, she grabbed a pair of binoculars.
It looked like a space aircraft!
Suddenly she realised. It was a drone! How intriguing. Who would be flying that around? Maybe it was the neighbour. She’d heard of farmers up north checking their tanks and fence lines with them. And young, up-and-coming photographers using them, too.
‘How cool!’ she muttered out loud. Meita jumped into the back of the ute and nosed under her arm. ‘What’s up, girl?’ Fiona asked absent-mindedly as she watched the drone hover in the sky above her. How much could it see and in what sort of detail?
Meita didn’t do anything; she just rested her head on Fiona’s chest and sighed contentedly.
Her phone rang. Digging into her pocket reminded her how tight her jeans were, even with the stretch belt Carly had given her. She’d heard so many first pregnancies didn’t show until about six or seven months. She was obviously the exception!
‘Kim!’ she said, so happy to hear from her friend.
‘Fee, how are you, sweetie? And how’s that tummy of yours?’
Fiona laughed, her hand going automatically to her belly and stroking it softly. ‘We’re both fine,’ she answered. That wasn’t exactly the truth. The past few nights she’d been so uncomfortable. This morning she’d found a few drops of blood on her knickers, but she wasn’t too concerned. Yesterday she’d hauled a fly-struck ewe onto the trailer so she could crutch the affected area and treat it. The ewe had been heavy and hard to handle. Fiona wasn’t going to tell anyone that; she knew there’d be an outcry if someone found out.
Sometimes she wished everyone would understand she was pregnant, not sick. That was how she felt they all treated her at times but they were only looking out for her and Hamish; she had to keep reminding herself of that. Especially since Charlie wasn’t around. But they had to understand she was capable. She didn’t doubt herself, so why did they?
‘Are you sure?’ Kim asked. ‘You sound a little weird.’
‘I’m sure. Although, did you know that Dave was coming here today?’
There was a pause.
‘Dave? As in my Dave? I missed a call from him and he didn’t leave a message, so I hadn’t caught up with that news.’
‘Hmm. He’s up looking at the crash site.’
‘Oh, sweetie!’ All of Kim’s compassion came flowing down the phone line. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Uncertain,’ Fiona finally admitted. Once again, she looked towards the hill. Dave would be on the other side, looking at where Eddie died. Where everyone’s lives had changed irreversibly. ‘How does he do that?’ she asked Kim.
‘Do what?’
‘Go to the scenes, see the blood, deal with the people left behind?’
Kim sighed. ‘I don’t know,’ she replied honestly. ‘I really don’t. But there are nights when he can’t sleep and he sits up late, drinking coffee. I’ve learned not to bother him when he’s having an episode like that.’
Fiona gave Meita one last pat then started to walk towards the shearing shed, the phone still pressed to her ear. As she walked, the stony ground crunched under her hard-soled boots and her jacket pulled on her stomach.
‘I don’t understand why he’s here though, Kim. Shouldn’t it all be over? God, I wish it could all be over.’ Her voice broke a little.
‘Damn, I wish I was there to give you a hug. I’m sorry I can’t be with you. I haven’t got anyone to cover for me in the roadhouse today.’
Swiping at her nose, Fiona shook her head, even though no one could see her. ‘No, I’m fine. I just don’t get what’s going on. I thought it was all finished. What more can he find? It’s been five months! Do you know?’
From the silence, Fiona dimly realised that Kim was carefully composing her words. Fear shot through her.
‘You do know, don’t you? Kim?’
‘I know a little, love, but not enough to tell you with certainty. Why don’t you ask Dave when you see him?’
‘You tell me.’ Fiona wasn’t sure if it was fair to be demanding this, but she didn’t care. She had to know.
‘I think …’ Kim broke off. ‘I think the original investigation wasn’t completed properly.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah, not good, I know. But Dave will make it right.’
‘So, what?’ Alarm quickly found its way to the bottom of her stomach and sat there. Her thoughts whirled. ‘You mean it wasn’t an accident?’
‘Oh, God no!’ Kim screeched down the phone. ‘No, no, no! You’ve got it all wrong. He’s just rechecking a couple of little things. Dave just has to follow it all up and make sure it’s right. It’s a paper trail, that’s all.’
Fiona closed her eyes and let out a breath. ‘Far out!’ she muttered. ‘Geez!’
‘Sorry, sweetie, I didn’t mean to frighten you.’
‘S’okay. Let’s change the subject!’
‘Yes, let’s. What are you doing today?’
‘Sounds like a lot of work. Who have you got to help you?’
‘I’ve got someone teed up to do the cropping work but not to help with the stock. Think I might give Mark, my stock agent, a call and see if he knows someone.’ She exhaled loudly. ‘Lamb marking is coming up, too—I’d really like to do it while we’re shearing, save double handling them, but I don’t think I’ve got the energy. Shearing is more important at the moment. I need the money. I’ve bowed to public pressure and decided to get a lamb-marking contractor in. Usually, Charlie and I would have done it by ourselves, but I don’t think I can manage that this year.’
‘Well, hallelujah and praise the Lord. Your common sense has finally kicked in over your pride!’
Fiona giggled. ‘Get stuffed,’ she said mildly.
‘It must be the day for light-bulb moments,’ Kim said, her tone becoming excited.
Fiona hoisted herself up onto the wool table and sat there, her legs swinging through the air. Instantly, she was taken back to when Charlie had lifted her up there. He’d sat her on the table and swung it around, as if she were having a ride on a merry-go-round. As she’d approached him again, he’d stopped the table and dragged her to him, kissing her long and hard. Meita hadn’t liked the attention she was being shown and had barked loudly, before jumping up onto the table and nosing her way between them. Fiona wanted to smile and cry at the same time. Instead, she focused on Kim.
‘Tell me!’
‘I think I was meant to go through this scare.’
‘Well, you’re the one who keeps telling me everything happens for a reason.’
The tin roof banged in a gust of wind and Meita strolled into the shed. She found a slither of sunlight, flopped down, sighing loudly, and shut her eyes, falling asleep immediately.
‘Wish I could do that,’ Fiona said.
‘Huh?’ Kim stopped mid-sentence.
‘Oh, sorry.’ She told Kim what Meita had just done. ‘I find it so hard to go to sleep and stay asleep,’ Fiona complained.
‘Chamomile tea,’ Kim said promptly. ‘And surely you’ve got enough sheep on that place of yours to count?’
‘Ha, ha. Anyway, keep going. You were saying something about reasons?’
‘I want to cook meals for people who need them. I was thinking about you, going through all that you have been. I’m sure there’ve been nights when cooking has been the last thing on your mind.’
‘Absolutely.’ Fiona frowned, trying to work out where this was going.
‘And Dave, if he’d been home by himself, he would have struggled to cook. I love him dearly, but the only place he is at all domesticated is around a campfire.’
‘Okay.’ Fiona sounded unsure.
‘So, if I register with the hospital, or doctor’s surgery, and they give the patients my details, I can cook for the families who are left at home.’
Realisation dawned. ‘Oh, so if the wife is in hospital and Dad is left at home with the kids?’
‘Yeah, or an older man who can’t cope on his own. Providing home-cooked meals, a bit of company. Not everyone has family who can help them, you know.’
‘I think that’s a fabulous idea,’ Fiona enthused. ‘That’s just like you, Kim. You turn something bad that’s happened to you into something awesome. I wish I had your positive attitude.’
‘But, sweetie, you do! That’s what positivity is all about: getting up every morning and keeping on going. Not letting things get to you—or at least not dwelling on the bad things. You were telling me the other day how beautiful the sunrise was—the little bits of gold sneaking out from the edge of the clouds. That, my love, is positivity. If you can still see the beauty in things after what you’ve been through, well, need I say more?’
‘Sometimes it’s pretty hard to get out of bed in the morning,’ Fiona admitted.
‘But you do and that’s what counts. Uh-oh, I’ve gotta go, just had a customer come in. I’ll ring you later.’
They said their goodbyes and Fiona put the phone down by her side. Rubbing her eyes, she groaned. ‘Come on, let’s get on with it,’ she told herself.
She grabbed the broom and waddled up the steps onto the board and started sweeping. The smell of ammonia under the shed rose to greet her and she breathed it in deeply. It didn’t matter that she had started off her life as a town girl. She was now a farm girl through and through. A farm girl without a husband, but with a baby on the way. And as much as it hurt, she had to be content with what she had.
Chapter 17
Geoff and Leigh walked silently around the site. Both men were ashen-faced and Dave felt a pang of regret at having to put them through it all again. Still, he couldn’t let that prevent him from doing his job.
‘So can you tell me again?’ he asked, his notebook out. ‘Where were you all?’
‘I was in the front, driving.’ Geoff’s voice was low.
‘The rest of us were on the back, in the tray of the ute,’ Leigh added.
‘How were you lined up across?’ Dave asked.
Leigh replied immediately. ‘I was on the passenger’s side, Charlie in the middle and Eddie was standing behind the driver’s seat. He was holding the spotlight.’
Dave turned his attention to Geoff. ‘Can you remember what was happening in the lead-up to when the ute tipped over?’
Kicking at the ground and in a tone that didn’t change, he recited what had happened. ‘I was driving with the window down and half hanging out of it so I could hear if one of the fellas yelled out to me. Charlie had just shot a fox and we were driving over to make sure it was dead. I felt the ute hit something. There was a huge noise—like tearing underneath or something, then it just went up on the two wheels. It felt like it hung there for hours before it crashed over. I was thrown across the other side, then I heard a shot.’ He stopped, took a couple of breaths and blinked, before continuing. ‘I heard screams and thuds. I tried to scramble up and get out through the window, but I couldn’t. Well, not at first. It took a good couple of goes to get out. Coz the ute was on its side, the door was heavy and kept slamming shut on me. When I finally did, I saw Charlie working on Eddie.’
Leigh nodded in agreement and Geoff continued.
‘I had my headlight already strapped to my head so all I had to do was turn it on. There was red everywhere. I didn’t realise what it was at first. Thought there must’ve been a tin of paint in the back or something.’ He began to speak quickly, his voice rising. ‘Then Charlie was saying something like, “You’re gonna be all right, you’re gonna be all right.”’ His chest heaved and Leigh made a move to stand beside him. He put a hand on his shoulder just as Geoff let out a shuddering sob.
Angrily, Leigh turned to Dave. ‘See? This is what happens when you drag up shit that should have been sorted properly in the first place. It just opens old wounds and makes it hard for people who are getting their lives back on track.’
‘I can’t tell you how much I regret having to do this.’ Dave acknowledged their pain by turning and walking a few metres away from them, to give the men some privacy.
Back inside the car, Dave started to ask some basic questions.
‘Was there a particular reason you went out that night? I understand it had been raining.’
‘So what?’ Leigh asked. ‘Would’ve gone if it’d been raining or not.’
Geoff stared out the window and watched the countryside whizzing by. He said, ‘There was a wild dog. It’d been killing sheep left, right and centre. Sometimes it killed for food, sometimes it killed for fun.’
Dave knew that if a dog was killing for fun, the only thing it would eat would be the kidney fat. It was easy to get at through the side of
the animal. It was sweet, juicy and a dog’s favourite part of the sheep. If it was killing for food, it would eat most of the legs and other meaty parts of the animal, too.
‘It had killed at Charlie’s place last, but it seemed to be able to travel great distances in a short time. I talked to an old dogger who used to track dingoes out on the Nullarbor and he said they could travel up to fifty k’s in one night. We didn’t really have any idea where it would turn up next, so we just took pot luck.’
Taking up the commentary, Leigh continued, ‘Eddie was really keen. The dog had been killing my stud ewe lambs and they were his pride and joy. Eddie always considered those sheep his own and looked after them as such. He’d told me he’d rung Geoff and Charlie and they were both eager to head out that night. I wasn’t sure if I’d be home in time because I had a council meeting. As it turned out, it only lasted half an hour, so I texted Charlie and told him I’d be there. He texted back and said he wasn’t sure if they were going to go; worried it was too wet and slippery. But if they did, they’d swing by my place and pick me up.’
Dave made a mental note to ask why, if they were shooting on Charlie’s farm, they would pick up Leigh rather than expect him to drive himself over.
‘Had you guys done much shooting before?’
‘You’ve gotta shoot when you’re a farmer.’ Leigh shrugged. ‘You’ve gotta control foxes, put animals down if you need to. There’s a use for a gun on every property.’
Geoff nodded.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Dave said. ‘I’m the third son of a farmer back in WA. Dad used to cart his gun around with him in the front of the ute. He always said you’d never know when you might need it. Go for a row if you tried to do that now!’
‘Those gun laws were needed,’ Geoff said. ‘But they’ve made it difficult. Especially if, like me, you farm close to town. People hear gunshots and then ring your mob. Think something bad is going down. Even out here. And we’re all country people.’
Sapphire Falls Page 14
